Archives for January 2008

An important issue for future Canadian immigrants: Where do I want to live when I get to Canada? Which Canadian city will best suit my needs? Recent studies rate the attractiveness of a selection of Canadian cities, weighing the advantages and disadvantages that people consider before choosing where to live.

Canada’s population recently topped 33 million – 80 per cent of which live in cities. Given current Canadian population trends and labour force shortages, the cities that can act as magnets for new people are the ones that will be the most prosperous in the coming decades. The Conference Board of Canada’s recent report on the attractiveness of Canada’s census metropolitan areas (CMA’s) is the first-ever attempt to measure how attracted people are to various cities. Based on 46 indicators across seven domains (Economy, Innovation, Environment, Education, Health, Society, and Housing), the study ranks 27 Canadian CMA’s.

In the overall results, five of the top six spots go to big cities. Calgary (Alberta) tops the list, followed by Toronto (Ontario) and Vancouver (British Columbia). Rounding out the top six are Edmonton (AB), Victoria (BC), and Ottawa-Gatineau (ON). Calgary takes first place in the Economy category, a cut above its closest followers, Edmonton, Abbotsford (BC), Oshawa (ON), and Vancouver. Five of Canada’s six largest cities are among the top ten in the Health category. Toronto leads the way in terms of accessibility to health services, just ahead of Vancouver and Victoria. On Society indicators, such as population density, availability of cultural occupations, and percentage of foreign-born population, large cities lead the pack again; however, their scores are reduced by long commute times. Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, and Montreal (Quebec) are the top-tier cities in the Society category. In terms of Housing, smaller CMA’s fare much better than larger ones because of the affordability of homes. Sherbrooke (QC) takes the top spot, followed by Trois-Rivières (QC). British Columbia’s CMA’s are most attractive in terms of Environmental indicators with Abbotsford leading Victoria and Vancouver in the top three spots. Ottawa maintains its solid reputation for higher education, coming in first place in the Education category, followed by Kingston (ON) and Halifax (Nova Scotia). Canada’s six major CMA’s all ranked well in terms of Innovation.

Attractiveness, however, can be a subjective term. Canada’s “most attractive cities” do not coincide with another study’s list of the top ten “happiest cities” in Canada. This happiness report by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, is based on how residents of 18 Canadian cities ranked their overall satisfaction with their lives on a ten point scale. Four of the top six happiest cities are smaller CMA’s in the Atlantic provinces; Saint John (New Brunswick), Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island), Moncton (New Brunswick), and St. John’s (Newfoundland). Quebec City (QC) landed the number two spot and Kitchener (ON) tied Moncton for fourth place. The study attributes the smaller cities’ higher scores to the fact that cities with established neighbourhoods and higher levels of local engagement and trust among neighbours will tend to have satisfied residents.

70 per cent of Canadian immigrants move to Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal – CMA’s that are attractive for their cultural and economic diversity. Smaller CMA’s realize that that to become more attractive immigration destinations, they must implement new strategies to attract newcomers and build diverse cultural communities. Their solid happiness ranking is a good first step.

With a pressing need for skilled workers, Canada’s Western provinces continue to implement new initiatives to help foreign workers get to Canada and start contributing to the labour force quickly. Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) is rolling out the welcome mat to temporary foreign workers, making the transition into the workforce easier, faster and with more protection.

Canada’s Northern Territories are not common destinations for immigrants. Many potential immigrants perceive that the smaller communities and harsh climate will make integration more difficult. The reality, however, is that many immigrants to the Northwest Territories, Yukon, or Nunavut have adjusted well and thrived in their new communities. The Yukon, the only Territory with a Nominee Program, is working to bring in immigrants quickly, to fill labour shortages and sustain the growing economy.

Upon arriving in the Northern Territories, newcomers may have a few difficulties acclimatizing. The cold, the limited variety of ethnic foods, and the path of the Northern sun are some of the factors that immigrants must get used to. For Muslim immigrants, the land of the midnight sun in the summer and the 24 hour darkness in the dead of winter make the sunrise and sunset prayers a bit tricky. Nonetheless, the lure of abundant job opportunities has been drawing more and more immigrants north. There are more than 110 ethnicities living in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. In this booming frontier city, a little mosque on the edge of the Arctic has become a crowded hub for the Muslim faith. “In a big city, it’s much easier to become isolated in your religious community and not consider the outside world,” explained a recent immigrant to Yellowknife. “This is such a small community that you have to be a part of it. We have to engage with other religions […] it’s good for me and good for my religion.”

The Yukon Nominee Program (YNP) allows the Government of Yukon to nominate potential immigrants for Canadian Permanent Residency who can contribute to the territory’s labour market and economic growth. To qualify for the YNP, applicants must meet minimum requirements for the Skilled Worker Program or the Business Program.

Skilled Worker Program – This program is designed to help Yukon employers recruit immigrants to fill vacant positions. There are two streams to this employer-driven program; Skilled Worker and Critical Impact Worker. Eligibility criteria for the two streams are similar, however, for the Skilled Worker Program, the applicant must have a permanent full-time job offer from a Yukon employer in a higher-skilled occupation whereas the Critical Impact Worker is designed to bring in workers to fill job openings in lower-skilled occupations. The applicants must have the required training, education, work experience, and accreditation for the position being offered and they must have sufficient language skills to communicate in the work place. Applicants cannot be refugee claimants; they must have sufficient financial or settlement supports.

Business Program – Again, there are two streams to this program; Entrepreneur and Self-Employed. Entrepreneurs or business owners must submit a business plan for their new business, their purchase of an existing business, or their investment as a management partner of an existing business. Applicants must have sufficient language skills and the experience and education to implement the business plan. They must satisfy the requirements for minimum investment in the business and personal net worth. The Self-Employed category is designed for professionals who can provide in-demand services in the Yukon. The applicant’s profession must be among those identified as professional skill shortages in the Yukon. Applicants must have the education, work experience, licensing and accreditation, and the language skills necessary to execute the business plan.

Large funding allocations have been made over the past month by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) at the national, provincial, and regional levels. An important focus is on newcomer integration; easing the transition of immigrants into Canadian society and the Canadian workforce. CIC and regional service groups provide services and guidance to help newcomers become engaged in their new communities.

$121.6 million will be provided by Citizenship and Immigration Canada over the next three years to help provincial governments with the settlement and integration of new immigrants. The new CIC funding, which is in addition to the $1.3 billion allocated in the 2006 budget, will go towards programs and services that provide information and orientation to newcomers. The $121.6 million is divided among provinces and territories outside Quebec and Ontario. These two provinces have separate bilateral immigration agreements with the federal government. Provincial services made possible by CIC funding are an important addition to federally-run immigrant settlement programs (the Immigrant Settlement and Adaptation Program, the Host Program, and Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada).

In addition to funding current settlement supports, CIC is also preparing for future trends in Canadian immigration and settlement by financing research into globalization, migration, and diversity. Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) have pledged $7.5 million over five years to the national Metropolis Project, which supports research and public policy development on immigrant integration in cities in Canada and around the world.

“We have much to gain from exploring the effects of migration on the strength of our economy, the security of our nation, and the relationships between different cultures living side by side within out borders,” stated CIC Minister Diane Finley. Dr. Chad Gaffield, President of SSHRC explained that, “The Metropolis Project is addressing urgent societal issues as we attempt to build a more inclusive society and to understand the connections between immigration and globalization.”

New regional funding has also made headlines this month. $38 million has been allotted by CIC to 15 partner agencies in the Halton and Peel Regions of Ontario, two of the fastest-growing immigrant communities in Canada. Additionally, the Quebec provincial government recently announced that Montreal will receive double the amount of funding this year as it has been given in past years for immigrant settlement programs.

Commenting on the wave of federal funding from CIC, Minister Finley stated: “With this new funding, we will continue to respond to the needs of newcomers and help them become part of our community and our economy. Ultimately, their success is our success as we continue to build and strengthen our country.”

In immigration law, we come across many situations where the decision taken greatly impacts the welfare of children. In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on a case (Baker v. Canada) which brought the interests of children to the forefront in immigration matters. In that case, a woman with 4 Canadian-born children was ordered deported from Canada despite the concerns for her own medical treatment in her country of origin and the effect her removal would have on her children. In the ruling, the Court specified that in making decisions on humanitarian and compassionate grounds for immigration, officials are required to pay “close attention to the interests and needs of children, since children’s rights and attention to their interests are central humanitarian and compassionate values in Canadian society”. The Baker decision is now nearly 10 years old and not nearly enough has been done to put its recommendations into practice.